NEW YORK — I'm sitting outside the Fifth Avenue Apple Store here in New York, writing up a post about the long line for the iPhone, when a pretty girl wearing aviator sunglasses and a white blouse sits next to the guy sitting next to me. She says to her friend: "So I've got a date with Dan." "Who?" the guy asks. "The guy who was first in line — the guy who bought the first iPhone today. He's doing the documentary thing, his name is Dan."

I hear this and it sounds familiar; A group of vegan activists began waiting in line a few days ago as a demonstration. The cute girl goes on: "Anyway, they all own Apple stock and he taught English in Japan for four years. He's a nut, but I like nuts." The guy: "You could do much better." People who wait hours in line for a phone: Odd. People who wait days in line for a phone, hitting on a cute Apple Store employee the whole time, eventually asking her out and getting a date for next Tuesday: Not so odd. Actually: kind of heroic.